Archive for April 15th, 2003

Tattoo Parties??

Waiting at the doctor’s office yesterday, one of the nurse’s daughters came in. Turns out she’s 17 and her mom had made her come in for this appointment. While she was waiting her turn, she went back to the office area to show one of the receptionists her new tattoo. Apparently she had just had it done this weekend, and it was still very tender.

Curious, I asked her at what studio she had gotten it done. To my surprise, she said she hadn’t gotten it done at a studio, she had gotten it done at her aunt’s house. Her aunt had had a tattoo party, and she was one of ten people who had been tattooed that evening. If the other tattooes were as large as hers was (hers was on the base of her back and was probably 10 inches wide by 6 inches tall), then that tattoo artist was busy for quite a while!

Now, I’m both a fan of tattooes and a fan of “buy stuff” parties (think Pampered Chef kitchen ware, PartyLite candles, Longaberger baskets – all of which have sucked me into buying something at least once), I’m trying to imagine which of my various friends and associates would attend a tattoo party. How do you decide the guest list?? Who’s your target customer? And then the time-honored munchies at a “buy stuff” party – how do you adjust them for folks who might be squeamish at the little bit of blood you might see as someone else’s tattoo is getting inked? I assume the beverages end up being a little bit stronger than Coke…

Somehow this seems quite the Martha-Stewartish suburbanite twist on the typical group of girls/guys getting themselves psyched up some weekend evening and daring each other to get a tattoo. This is something you put in your DayTimer and leave yourself a reminder to bring a casserole. Too weird! (But worth an experiment if I have enough like-minded friends! Kel, Miche, Vanessa, Sheri, Denice… want to try a different kind of party??)

22 comments April 15th, 2003

Korean Culinary Adventures

Yesterday my brother-in-law, Brad, presented me with an assortment of Korean foods that he purchased during his travels. Feeling somewhat adventurous, I brought one of the soup-bowl-looking things to work for lunch today. The packaging is reminiscent of something we’d buy here, with a pretty picture on the front, bold colors to attract your eye, a bar code, and what looks like an ingredient list, cooking directions, and even an evaluation of its nutrition. None of that is useful to me, though, as all of the text is in Korean. I do get the idea that I’m not supposed to microwave the packaging (its a Styrofoam bowl), and that I shouldn’t spill it on myself due to hot liquid contents, based on some icons that seem to transcend cultural boundaries.

The packaging did provide me with one useful clue, though – a web address for the company that makes the product. Luckily, they even provide an English version of the site (Russian, too, apparently, though that’d help me about as much as Korean). Doing some hunting, I think my lunch is the Spicy Soya Ramen, as I do have two packets included with my ramen noodles.

And now the taste test: I’m afraid of their description of “spicy”. In past foreign food adventures, I’ve discovered that one culture’s idea of spicy may be magnitudes greater than my threshold for spicy, even though I generally like spicy foods. This stuff is pretty good, though. It’s got a bite to it, but nothing that leaves me fearing that I’m searing my tastebuds.

Neat change of pace for my day, between the food itself, and the wondering what exactly it was I was going to end up with. Can’t wait to try some of the other goodies Brad brought back… I remember seeing seasoning paste for kimchee (salted spicy cabbage), as well as some other spicy sauces. I’m going to have me some fun in the kitchen!

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